Saturday, 3 January 2009

Trifle

There are certain staple foodstuffs one must always have at Christmas and trifle is one of them. I think many of us dismiss trifle because we have had bad experiences of shop bought atrocities with an almost concrete jelly and fruit layer.

A good trifle should not contain jelly. The eating experience should be soft and juicy with a lovely mix of sponge, fruit, custard and cream. I used my final swiss roll to provide the trifle’s base.

Here is my pictorial masterclass to trifle making! Step one - have a fruit layer so tempting that you forget it’s good for you:

The fruit should sit heavily on the sponge base so as to ensure there are no pockets of emptiness; these will only limit the amount of custard and cream you can wedge into the bowl:

Step two - add a creamy custard layer so naughty you feel 4 pounds heavier just looking at it:

However gorgeous your trifle, sadly, it will always look messy in the bowl:

Ingredients:These quantities made me a huge trifle (my bowl was approx 30cm tall and 25cm across), vary them according to the size of your bowl:1 swiss roll – for the recipe click here1 kilo of washed assorted fruit – I used raspberries, blackberries and strawberries1 litre of ready made fresh custard500g mascarpone600ml double cream2 Cadbury flakes

How to make:

- Cut the swiss roll into approximately 1.5cm slices.- Line the bottom of the bowl with the swiss roll.- Mix the fruit together and place on top of the swiss roll. Push down gently on the fruit to compact it a bit.- Whisk together the custard and mascarpone until smooth and creamy. Whatever amount you make, remember that the volume of custard must always be twice the weight of the mascarpone.- Spread the custard mix over the fruit. It will sink into any crevices in the fruit.- Whip the cream until you have soft peaks and spread over the custard layer.- Decorate as required – I used strawberries and crushed flake.- Refrigerate until required.- Bask in glory at the wonderful thing you have made.- Eat.

Mr B. made the 'family' trifle this year, which is a slightly different take where you spread the jam on some trifle sponge and then mash it up with the custard and lashings of sherry. Then you top it off with whipped cream and chocolate shavings. It just seems so wrong though... In my book, you've got to use Swiss Roll and you definitely don't mash it all up!

Read this great novel!

Look at this great website

Follow my ambitious attempt to find a recipe for a cake, biscuit, pie or tart for every single one of the 39 traditional English counties!

The Caked Crusader and Boy Wonder

Cartoon by Cakeyboi

About Me

So, the answer to the question you’re all asking: who am I? Well, a superhero never reveals their identity. I think it’s stated somewhere in the contract when you sign up for superhero-dom. Let’s just call me THE CAKED CRUSADER. By day (and night if I’m being honest) a mild-mannered City professional, but at weekends I become THE CAKED CRUSADER. Tirelessly fighting anti-cake propaganda and cake-related injustices – for SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE, ALWAYS NEEDS CAKE (we’ll just skip over the fact that it’s usually me).

Batman’s got the batmobile, batcave etc. Superman does just great what with being able to fly and being really strong. Spiderman’s got that web thing going on. But I have better than them. For I have a credit card and could get one of these:

The purpose of my blog is simple – to spread the word that CAKE IS GOOD.Yes, it is calorific; that is why it tastes so nice.Yes, too much of it is bad for you; that’s what ‘too much’ means.Yes, we’re all told to eat healthily and we know that we should. But ask yourself this – and look very deeply into your soul before answering – when has a cup of tea and a carrot ever cheered you up? However, put that carrot into a cake and happiness will ensue. Quod erat demonstrandum – CAKE IS GOOD.

This site will catalogue cakes I have unleashed unto the world and my thoughts thereon.

By the way, I will never recommend how many portions you should get out of a cake because we’re all different. Plus, it will be very embarrassing when I say it serves 4 and you get 20 portions out of it.

WARNING: Too much time spent on this blog may cause hunger.

Privacy notice

The Caked Crusader blog does not share personal information with third-parties, nor does it store or use information collected about your visit to the site other than to analyse content performance. I am not responsible for the republishing of the blog’s content on other websites or media without my permission. This privacy policy is subject to change without notice.

Cake Achievement in Film and Television Arts (CAFTA)

Have you seen a cake in a film or tv show that deserves recognition? Has a cupcake upstaged a beefcake?

If so, please let me know and that cake could win a coveted CAFTA award. Email me your suggestions, with a photo of the cake if possible.

About Me

I am a 40-something Chartered Accountant working in the square mile.
My main hobbies at the moment are baking, and setting the world record for the number of cake tins owned by one person.
I spend far too much time watching Spongebob Squarepants and would love to try a Krabby Patty...I know, I know - it's not real.